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Infection and Immunity, October 1998, p. 4767-4776, Vol. 66, No. 10
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Interleukin-12 Is Required for Control of the Growth of Attenuated Aromatic-Compound-Dependent Salmonellae in BALB/c Mice: Role of Gamma Interferon and Macrophage Activation

Pietro Mastroeni,1,2,* J. A. Harrison,1 J. H. Robinson,1 S. Clare,2 S. Khan,3 D. J. Maskell,3 G. Dougan,2 and C. E. Hormaeche1

School of Microbiological, Immunological and Virological Sciences, Medical School, University of Newcastle, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE2 4HH,1 Department of Biochemistry, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ,2 and Centre for Veterinary Science, Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 OES,3 United Kingdom

Received 9 March 1998/Returned for modification 17 April 1998/Accepted 21 July 1998

The attenuated S. typhimurium SL3261 (aroA) strain causes mild infections in BALB/c mice. We were able to exacerbate the disease by administering anti-interleukin-12 (IL-12) antibodies, resulting in bacterial counts in the spleens and livers of anti-IL-12-treated mice that were 10- to 100-fold higher than the ones normally observed in premortem mice; yet the animals showed only mild signs of illness. Nevertheless, they eventually died of a slow, progressive disease. Mice infected with salmonellae become hypersusceptible to endotoxin. We found that IL-12 neutralization prevented the death of infected mice following subcutaneous injection of lipopolysaccharide. Granulomatous lesions developed in the spleens and livers of control animals, as opposed to a widespread infiltration of mononuclear cells seen in the organs of anti-IL-12-treated mice. In the latter (heavily infected), salmonellae were seen within mononuclear cells, indicating an impairment of the bactericidal or bacteriostatic ability of the phagocytes in the absence of biologically active IL-12. Gamma interferon (IFN-gamma ) levels were reduced in the sera and tissue homogenates from anti-IL-12-treated mice compared to those in control animals. Furthermore, fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis on spleen cells showed that IL-12 neutralization impaired the upregulation of I-Ad/I-Ed antigens on macrophages from infected mice. Inducible nitric oxide synthase and IFN-gamma mRNA production was down-regulated in anti-IL-12-treated mice, which also showed an increased production of IL-10 mRNA and a decrease in nitric oxide synthase activity in the tissues. Administration of recombinant IFN-gamma to anti-IL-12-treated mice was able to restore host resistance, granuloma formation, and expression of major histocompatibility complex class II antigens in F4/80+ and CD11b+ spleen cells.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biochemistry, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 171 594 5254. Fax: 44 171 594 5255. E-mail: p.mastroeni{at}ic.ac.uk.

Infection and Immunity, October 1998, p. 4767-4776, Vol. 66, No. 10
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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Copyright © 1998 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.